Fouling mitigation in coagulation microfiltration hybrid system for drinking water treatment

Abstract

Coagulation combined with microfiltration has been receiving a great attention and has been evolving in recent years as an alternative for surface water treatment. There exists influential advantages with the novel hybrid system compared to other methods. Conventional surface water treatment plants include large flocculation and coagulation basins, which increase capital cost. Water treatment plants running with Nanofiltration (NF) and Reverse Osmosis (RO) can be costly to operate and also face with serious fouling problems. The proposed hybrid process with microfiltration offers a decentralized operating plant with a notable Natural Organic Matters (NOM) removal performance, minimized sludge, and mitigated fouling problem. All these factors signify great potential in integrating coagulation and microfiltration into one single process.